Oct 9

Oct 9 The importance of the Miu Miu woman as told through the SS24 Runway Show

Fashion Article, Fashion News, Fashion Show, Paris Fashion Week

To anyone online, it’s obvious that Miu Miu is having its moment in the much deserved spotlight. Models and content creators on TikTok and Instagram are shedding their contact lenses for “ugly” rimless glasses, some are sporting them without the need for visual aids. Hemlines are precariously chopped at home to follow the trends of the Miu Miu runways, and a satin or sequinned knicker has become the ultimate it girl sartorial statement. The Manrepeller fashion we’ve seen a huge uptick in is perhaps less of a rebellion to the perfected images we’ve always seen, and instead feels more of a celebration of femininity in all its imperfection.

Miuccia Prada is one of few women at the helm of major fashion houses, a topic of much discussion after it was revealed Monday 3rd October that Seán McGirr will be taking over from Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, meaning that all six Creative Directors as a part of the Kering conglomerate are white men. Miu Miu, then gives us a glimpse into fashion for women designed by women, a global fashion house who totally understands their consumer and the day to day of their life. In this way it is easy to see how the Miu Miu woman is drenched in reality, Miucchia Prada doesn’t want to sell you an aspirational dream of perfected womanhood, her clothes are a frenzied honouring of the women she designs for.

The latest runway, which closed out Paris Fashion Week SS24, encapsulated this perfectly. Models walked the runway in surprising stylistic choices, clothes pulled from different worlds clashed and felt worn in, as if pulled from a bursting wardrobe. Preppy polo shirts were piled over dishevelled shirts with sleeves hurriedly pushed up the arms of the models, tops were clumsily tucked into both oversized board shorts and miniature frilled skirts, bikini briefs were paired with oversized blazers and evening coats. These oppositional choices felt reminiscent of busy mornings, they speak of a woman with a hectic day ahead of her, with too little time to take herself too seriously.

It’s this intentional display of lived womanhood that connects the audience to the brand, we recognise ourselves in the spare evening heels nearly falling out of an overstuffed handbag, ready to be changed into once we’re done with our working day, the colourful plasters on our feet reminiscent of the night before. Greased hair worn in undone styles paired with barely there makeup helped to solidify this character of the everywoman, trailing wisps of hair that refuses to be kept in order and necklaces lying unevenly on half popped collars proved to be an authentic nod to real lives of the brands admirers.

It’s not often the runway acts as a mirror to its audience, revealing to them that they are seen, known and above all else, cherished. It is this idea that forms the crux of Miu Miu’s pervasive influence on fashion at this current time, and arguably is the result of having more women in decision making roles. Miucchia Prada knows the unspoken language of their market and asks its viewers to engage in the fashion as themselves, in all their complexities.